Archive for August, 2011

Culinary trends travel across the world so easily these days. We expect to be able to find almost any ethnic restaurants in our towns in Finland. You could almost make a culinary trip roudn the world, without ever leaving your home country. American hamburgers, Italian pizza and pasta or Turkish kebabs are already Finnish staples, I would say. Recently, also more and more Mexican, Indian and Japanese restaurants have been opened, with the decor also reminding us of their country of origin.

Our English-speaking ladies’ group did well in a pub quiz, and won a voucher to this Mexican restaurant. Tortillas and fajitas went down well, with the usual natter and laughs.

I already have quite a collection of pictures I will use as writing or story telling prompts in my foreign language classes. This could be one of them. What’s happened? Why is this bike, all covered in mud, amidst the grass by the cycle path? There is a little stream behind, and by the looks of it, somebody must have picked it up from there. A sad sight.

Making use of the last warm late summer / early autumn days to wash some of our carpets, before winter sets in. The communal carpet washing facility is such an easy place to do it. I love the fresh, pine soap smell that the clean carpets spread into the house!

Went to see my 14-year-old goddaughter at her latest hobby, climbing. Seemed really challenging – certainly not for me to try. But it was great to see the enthusiasm and vigour with which she tackled the high walls.

This unusual masterpiece of modern architecture is St. Henry’s ecumenical art chapel, built on an island, off our town, in 2005. From the outside it resembles a fish, or a boat turned upside down. The outside shape and copper walls give little indication of the warm Finnish pine interior. Its simplicity is breathtakingly beautiful, and every detail is meticulously thought through! The natural light from both sides of the altar, creates a constantly changing ambience of shadows. No wonder it is very popular for weddings. The chapel, as its name suggests, also holds art exhibitions, and thanks to its wonderful acoustics, it is used as a concert venue, too.

I never knew that our town has such a architectural gem until I got a chance to visit it for a guided tour today. This is what it looks like outside.